


Pride (In The Name Of Love)

by eternaleponine



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, First Meetings, Gay Pride, Meet-Cute, Pride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24961969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternaleponine/pseuds/eternaleponine
Summary: It's been years since Lexa went to Pride, because her ex helps organize it.  Anya finally convinces her to attend, but a glimpse of Costia in the crowd is enough to send her running... straight into the most beautiful woman she's ever seen.Clarke has a booth selling her art at the festival, but business isn't exactly booming.  She worries the day is going to be a bust, until a gorgeous stranger runs into her (literally) and changes the course of the day... and then disappears.Can they find each other again in the crowds and chaos, or will it be a moment they look back on and wonder what might have been?
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 44
Kudos: 350





	Pride (In The Name Of Love)

"You're being dramatic," Anya said. "It's been _two years_!" 

"Two-and-a-half," Lexa mumbled, lest anyone forget the Great Christmas Eve Debacle that had led to several very awkward holiday meals as their friends chose sides but refused to back down and decline invitations that put them in close contact with enemy forces. 

"Whatever," Anya said. "Point being, if everyone avoided Pride because they didn't want to risk running into their Evil Ex, there wouldn't _be_ a Pride." 

Lexa snorted, conceding the point. The queer community in their area was small enough that it never took all six degrees to get from one person to another, and many of those connections were of a more-than-friendly nature. It was just a thing that happened when you had a limited dating pool. 

And it wasn't as if she _hated_ Costia, even though Lexa had been the one to finally pull the plug on their relationship once and for all. They'd been great together... right up until they weren't, and they'd lingered way too long on that fine line between love and hate. When they'd divided up their possessions, they'd also divided their social circle and all the things they'd once loved to do together.

Costia had gotten custody of Pride. 

"Maybe she won't even be there," Anya said. 

"She'll be there," Lexa said. "She helps organize it." 

"Right," Anya said, deflating a little. "Seriously, Lexa. Two- _and-a-half_ years. You have to go back sometime. Get back on the horse. Maybe even find another girl..." She waggled her eyebrows.

Lexa forced herself to scowl instead of laugh. "I don't _want_ another girl," she said. "I'm perfectly happy being single."

"Yeah, yeah, strong independent woman don't need no woman, blah blah blah," Anya said, opening and closing her fingers like they were a sock puppet mouthing the blahs along with her. "But two-and-a-half _years_ without getting _laid_?" She shuddered. "It's time."

"We're not all horny all the time like you," Lexa said. And she wasn't. She could get herself off just fine when the need arose. But two-and-a-half years without kissing anyone, or touching anyone, or being touched... Lexa squirmed, her skin feeling suddenly too tight. Maybe Anya was right. Maybe it was time. If nothing else, she might see some of her old friends, or meet some new ones. She couldn't wallow forever. 

"Fine," she said. "I'll go. But if you say one word about trying to hook me up with _anyone_ \--" Lexa let the threat linger in the air between them, but Anya just whooped and did a ridiculous little victory dance. 

"Come on," she said, tugging Lexa toward her room. "We need to get you dressed."

* * *

"Ooh, _she's_ cute," Raven said, nudging Clarke for the fifth, tenth, hundredth time that day. "You should say hi." 

"I should pay attention to my customers," Clarke said. 

Raven was kind enough not to say, 'What customers?' but Clarke could see it clearly on her face. It was true that traffic at her booth had been light so far, but it was still early. The parade was only just winding down – she could hear the cheering and blaring music from here – and more people would make their way over to the area where all of the vendors were set up soon. At least she hoped they would.

"Anyway," Clarke said, "I'm not ready for another relationship right now. I need to sort my own shit out." 

"What's there to sort out?" Raven asked. " _I_ was the one who was with the lying, cheating, sack of shit for years, not you. You were with him for like... how many times did you have sex?" She didn't wait for Clarke to answer. "Times two – maybe three on a good day – minutes." 

Clarke choked on her water, and Raven slapped her on the back even though that didn't help her coughing fit at all. "You don't have stay here with me," she told her rather unlikely friend. (Who dumped the guy they'd been dating since they were a teenager and became besties with the girl he'd cheated on her with? Raven Reyes, that was who.) "You can wander around. Maybe find a girl of your own," she teased.

"You know, I just might," Raven said. "Men suck. Or don't, and that's part of the problem." She grinned. "I'll be back soon. Do you need anything?"

"I'm good," Clarke said. "Have fun. Make good choices." 

Raven laughed and limped off, disappearing into the thickening crowd. 

Clarke leaned her elbows on the edge of her table, knowing she ought to do something to attract the attention of passers-by, to get them to come over to her booth and check out her artwork, but the words remained locked in her throat. Maybe this had been a bad idea, even if it was guaranteed to be a Finn-free zone. After a few minutes of sitting and staring, she got up and went around to the other side of the table to rearrange her display for the dozenth time, trying to figure out what would lure people in.

For a few minutes it seemed to work. People stopped at the table and looked at the prints she had on display, and one person even bought a couple of postcard-size prints, but most just smiled and thanked her – for what? – and continued on their way. 

Clarke sighed and got up again, pulling a little palette of paint from her bag and taking advantage of the small mirror affixed to the booth next to hers (which was selling knit caps in the colors of every pride flag imaginable, and doing a booming business even though it was far too hot for wool today) to paint the stripes of the bi pride flag on her face.

She was just finishing up when someone knocked into her behind, jostling her arm and sending the paintbrush flying, but not before leaving a wild blue streak across her cheek. 

She whirled around, ready to snap at them to watch where they were walking, and froze.

* * *

"Shit," Lexa said, holding up her hands in an 'I'm harmless' gesture, then quickly dropping them when she realized it looked like she was reaching for the woman who she'd just nearly knocked over's boobs. "I'm sorry!" 

"It's okay," the woman said. "No harm, no foul." She smiled, and Lexa's heart did a weird flip in her chest. 

"Okay," Lexa agreed. "But you, um, you have a little—" She gestured to her cheek, then swung her bag around to rifle through the outside pocket, digging out a alcohol prep pad from the small first aid kit she kept inside, just in case. She thrust it at the woman so she could wipe the errant blue from the face. 

"You must be a mom," the woman said. "Prepared for anything."

"No," Lexa said. "Definitely not. Just... the mom-friend, I guess." She forced a smile, even though her face felt paralyzed, along with the rest of her except her racing heart and thoughts. 

"Well thank you," she said, turning back toward the mirror. She peeled opened the packet and carefully dabbed at her face, erasing the evidence of the collision. "I'm—"

"Can you paint my face, too?" a little girl asked, jamming herself between them and crowding into the woman's personal space. Lexa had to dance back a step to avoid having her toes stepped on. "Please?"

"Uh... sure?" The woman looked toward the unattended booth, then back at the girl. "Just a sec," she said. "Let me get you a chair." 

Lexa took the opportunity to make her getaway, not wanting to keep the woman from making a few bucks. She turned at the next possible opportunity, aiming herself down a different row of booths, paying more attention this time to her surroundings to avoid any further incidents. 

She jumped when an arm fell around her shoulders, dropping her weight slightly into the beginnings of a fighting stance before she realized it was only Anya. "Damn it," she growled. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry," Anya said, but her grin said she didn't mean it. "See anything you like?" There went her eyebrows again, and Lexa fought the urge to poke her right between them, even as her cheeks and ears grew red. She hoped Anya would just chalk it up to pale skin versus sun. 

"I saw Costia," she admitted. Which was what had sent her careening down the aisle too fast and not looking where she was going, and straight into one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen. But there was no way Lexa was going to mention _her_. The last thing she needed was Anya getting any ideas. 

"Oh," Anya said. "How did that go?"

"I didn't talk to her," Lexa said. "I just... saw her." She chewed the inside of her cheek, hating the fact that even after all this time it hurt to see her smiling and laughing and holding hands with someone that wasn't her. Not that she wanted Costia to be miserable and alone... but maybe there was a tiny little spiteful part of her that wanted her ex to be struggling to move on as much as she was. 

But they were different people. Costia had always been more extroverted than Lexa, and more willing to throw herself into situations – and relationships – without a long deliberation period weighing the pros and cons. Lexa had to feel a connection to the person – emotional as well as physical – before she was willing to put herself out there, even a little bit. 

Which was why it made no sense that she couldn't shake the butterflies Bi Pride Girl had set flapping in her belly. 

"Forget her," Anya said, and it took Lexa a second to realize she was talking about Costia, not... whatever her name was. She'd been just about to say it, Lexa thought, before they'd been interrupted. Maybe – probably – Lexa should have stuck around to at least give her the chance to finish her sentence, but she'd panicked. She told herself she could always go back later. 

"I'm trying," Lexa said, and then, "Come on. I'm hungry."

* * *

By the time Clarke finished painting a rainbow heart on the little girl's face (to match the ones on her shirt that said, 'I Love My Moms') a small line had formed. It was mostly kids, but there were a few teens and adults eager to have their pride temporarily tattooed on their face, so she just kept going. Some of the parents looked at her art while she worked on their kids' faced, and a few even bought something, and more took her card, which probably wouldn't lead to much – Clarke didn't think she'd ever ended up buying something from a vendor whose card she'd taken at an event after the fact – but at $10 a pop the face art added up quickly. 

Eventually there was a lull, and she collapsed into her chair and kicked up her feet on the one her living canvases had been using, glad for the opportunity to stretch and unhunch her spine. No sooner had she sat down when an icy paper cup was thrust into her hands. "Lemon ice," Raven said. "Your favorite." 

"Thank you," Clarke said, and groaned as she spooned up the first melting mouthful. A little tart, a little sweet, and a lot cold, it was absolutely perfect, and she could have kissed Raven for bringing it to her... but at the thought of kissing anyone, she found herself thinking back to the woman who'd nearly run her over, with her perfect lips and pale green eyes and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks and—

"Whoa," Raven said. "If I had known the lemon was _that_ good, I would have gotten it myself instead of cherry!" 

Clarke felt herself flush, and schooled her expression back to something resembling normal. "Sorry," she mumbled. "It just, uh, really hits the spot."

Raven smirked. " _Which_ spot, is the question," she said. "What did I miss?"

"No one," Clarke said too quickly, and realized her mistake too late. _Fuck._

"Ooooh," Raven said, pushing Clarke's feet off the second chair and easing herself down. "What's her name?"

"I don't know," Clarke said, and recounted the story, brief as it was. 

"Damn," Raven said. "You should have told her 'you break it, you buy it... a drink.'" She grinned. 

"She didn't break anything," Clarke said. 

"Not the point," Raven told her. "Did she at least buy something?"

"No," Clarke said. "She just disappeared."

"Did she even take your card?" Raven demanded. 

"I don't think so," Clarke said. It was possible she might have while Clarke was distracted, but she doubted it. "It doesn't matter. It was just... it was nothing."

"Uh-huh," Raven said. "The look on your face is definitely an 'it was nothing' face. Definitely _not_ an, 'Hi my name is Clarke Griffin and I fall in love at the drop of a hat and don't fall out of it unless you turn out to be an axe murderer or a lying, cheating sonofabitch' face." 

"I do _not_ fall in love at the drop of a hat," Clarke said. The truth was she wasn't sure she'd ever been in love. 

"Lust then," Raven said. "Love's overrated anyway."

"Let it go," Clarke said, her lemon ice tasting more sour than sweet now. "I'm just here to make some money. And you're in my next customer's chair." She waved to the little boy who approached with a finger stuck in his mouth, clutching his daddy's finger. 

"This isn't over," Raven said. "Not by a long shot."

* * *

"So are you coming to the party tonight?" Luna asked. 

When Lexa had thought – hoped? – she might run into old friends at Pride, she had never thought Luna might be one of them. They hadn't seen each other in years, and if Lexa had known she'd returned to the area, she'd somehow forgotten. At first she'd thought she was seeing things when she'd spotted a familiar profile in the fried dough line, but then Luna had turned around and their eyes met, and all doubt had been erased. They'd spent most of the afternoon catching up, wandering through the festival, and now it felt like they'd never been apart at all. 

"I don't think—"

"It's for a good cause," Luna said. "All proceeds go to the shelter and community center for LGBT teens."

"What shelter for LGBT teens?" Lexa asked. "We don't have—"

"Yet," Luna said. "But we will soon. That's why I came back. I saw a need and no one was stepping up to fill it, so..." She shrugged and smiled. 

"I'll be happy to donate," Lexa said. "And help in any way I can." 

"You can help by coming to the party," Luna said, "and bringing all your friends."

"I don't—" Lexa sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. There might have been a _few_ details she'd left out in her recounting of her life over the last few years. She'd mentioned Costia, and the break-up, but she'd skimmed over the part where, because she'd been the dumper and not the dumpee, she'd come out of it with a social circle so small it couldn't even form a proper circle, even though she hadn't done anything wrong. Neither of them had, but no one but Anya seemed to see it that way. 

"You don't...?" Luna prompted.

"Do you need any help setting up?" Lexa asked instead. 

"I think we're okay," Luna said, not missing the lack of response but letting it slide. "Just help get bodies in the door, and I'll be happy."

"I'll see what I can do," Lexa said, already sure she was going to let her friend down. But maybe there was one person she could ask, and maybe that one person could ask a few more, and— She took off through the labyrinth of booths, trying to remember where she'd seen the girl with the eyes as blue as the paint on her cheek.

* * *

Clarke groaned, sitting on the back bumper of her car after shoving the last plastic tote inside. "Thank god that's over," she said. "You ready to head home?"

"Hell no," Raven said. "We're only getting started! The night is young and so are we!" She held up her arms and did a little shimmy, and Clarke couldn't help laughing. 

"I don't _feel_ young right now," Clarke said. She was tired and sore from leaning over kids' faces, trying to paint as quickly as she could to finish before they got antsy and started squirming. Next year she would have to plan better, figure out a setup that wouldn't leave her back screaming at her by the end of the day. 

"I can help you with that," Raven said. She dug into the cooler and pulled out a couple of bottles of beer.

"I hate beer," Clarke said. 

"Because you're a snob," Raven said. "Come on. Just think of it as a muscle relaxer," she said, cracking one open and taking a swig. 

"I have to drive," Clarke said. 

"Not for hours," Raven said. "There's still a whole party. Which probably has other drinks if you don't want beer. Come on, Clarke. Live a little! You can't mope about The Cheater Who Dumped You – oh wait, we dumped him – forever." Her eyes lit up and her lips tugged up at the corners. "Maybe your girl will be there..." 

"She's not my girl," Clarke said. But she couldn't deny the fact that her pulse sped up just a little at the thought of seeing her again... maybe actually getting her name this time, and exchanging more than a few words... 

"Yet," Raven said. "But she could be..."

* * *

Lexa finally found the booth with all the pride hats, the picked over remainder of which were being packed away into tubs. She hurried past to get to the booth next door... only to find it deserted, the only thing left the booth number stuck to the edge of the empty table. She'd packed up shop and left.

Lexa kept walking, rubbing at her chest like it could alleviate the pang there. It was silly to feel abandoned by someone she hadn't even properly met, but she felt it anyway, sharp and deep. _You regret 100% of the chances you don't take._ Wasn't that how the saying went? Or maybe it was you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Whatever it was, she was just going to have to get over it. 

Maybe it was time to head home after all. Maybe Luna wouldn't even notice. 

Or maybe... maybe the girl would be there. 

There was only one way to find out.

Lexa followed the crowd that was slowly making its way to the parking lot that had been converted into a dance club for the night (the neighbors would love it, she was sure) and paid (overpaid, by quite a bit, and told the attendant to keep the change as a donation) the cover to get in. The music was already blaring, and bodies crowded the impromptu dance floor, moving to the pounding beat. She looked around, searching for a familiar face – she'd lost Anya right around the same time she'd found Luna – but it was hard to pick out anyone in the shifting lights that highlighted faces, then just as quickly threw them into shadow, seemingly at random. 

This really wasn't – had never been – her scene, but Lexa told herself she would – and could – stick it out for a little while. _An hour,_ she decided. _If you don't find her in an hour, you can go home._ She set a timer on her phone and shoved it into her pocket, telling herself she wasn't allowed to look at it until the timer ran out.

"You made it!" Luna said, wrapping her arms around Lexa in a hug. Lexa wasn't sure how Luna had managed to find her, and she tried not to cling to her like a lifeline even though she felt like she was drowning in the noise and heat of so many people in what felt like too small a space. "Are you having a good time?" She practically had to shout to be heard, even with her lips almost pressed to Lexa's ear. Lexa grimaced, and Luna laughed. "Thank you for coming anyway," she said. "If there's anything I can do—"

"I'm actually looking—" Lexa stopped herself, realizing how futile it was to ask. Even if Luna knew who she was talking about, what were the odds of finding her in this crowd? 

"Looking...?" Luna prompted, but Lexa shook her head.

"Nothing," Lexa said. "Never mind. Is there anything I can do for _you_?"

"I think everything is taken care of," Luna said. "But thanks for asking. I should go check on—" 

Lexa missed what her friend needed to check on, but after another quick hug she was gone, and Lexa was alone again even though she was surrounded by hundreds of people. She walked around the edges of the dance floor and caught a glimpse of Anya grinding up against a girl with a dark ponytail and a leg brace before the party closed around them again, cutting off her view. 

At least one of them was having a good time...

Lexa went in search of a quiet... or at least quieter... corner, reaching for her phone despite her promise. She had just about wormed her way through the largely abandoned cluster of tables in the back when someone crashed into her, nearly sending her sprawling. She whirled around—and froze.

* * *

"I'm sor— It's you!" Clarke blurted, and started to laugh. "We have got to stop meeting like this!"

The woman – the one from earlier, the one she'd let Raven convince her to come here to look for – stood in front of her, blinking, one hand halfway into her pocket. She didn't laugh, or even smile, and Clarke felt her excitement at finally finding her start to fizzle. "You break it, you buy it a drink," she said, the words coming out in a rush. 

"You _what_?" the woman asked. 

"Sorry," Clarke said. "Something my friend said earlier. That when you ran into me earlier, I should have said, 'You break it, you buy it a drink.'" She got closer as she spoke, wanting to be heard without screaming, and by the time she reached the end of the sentence she was practically pressed up against the woman, pushed up on her toes to bring her lips closer to her ear. "So do you want a drink?"

The woman started to shake her head, then stopped and nodded. "Water is fine." 

"Okay," Clarke said, and started to head toward one of the makeshift bars set up along the periphery, but was stopped by the woman's hand on her arm.

"I'm coming with you," she said. "I'm not losing you again." She flashed a smile, and that was it. The final nail in Clarke's coffin. "Anyway, I owe you a drink, too." 

Clarke grinned back. "Okay," she said again, and put her hand over the woman's where her fingers had closed around her arm, holding it there so they couldn't get separated as they navigated the crowd. "I'm—"

"Lexa," the woman said, cutting her off, but Clarke didn't think it was intentional. "I'm Lexa."

"I'm Clarke," she said. "It's nice to run into you. Again."

Lexa laughed, and Clarke's belly flip-flopped, butterflies and heat spreading through her and making her jittery, but Lexa's hand on her arm grounded her and Clarke shuffled a little closer as they got to the end of the line for the bar. 

Conversation was all but impossible, so they didn't try, just waited in companionable silence to buy each other drinks. Lexa chugged her bottle of water, and Clarke tried not to stare at her throat as it worked. Tried, and failed, and decided she didn't care if Lexa noticed. 

"Do you want to dance?" Lexa asked when her water was gone. 

Clarke hesitated. She'd always felt like she had two left feet on the dance floor – scars from comments made by the boy she liked at a middle school dance had permanently etched themselves into her brain -but tonight she decided she was also left-handed, so maybe that made her twice as good? Even if it didn't, she was being asked to dance by the most beautiful woman here, and there was no way she was going to say no. 

She downed the rest of her drink in two gulps and tossed the cup in the trash, then followed Lexa out onto the floor.

* * *

It had been a long time since Lexa had been this close to someone. Two-and-a-half years, or maybe a little longer... She shoved the thought aside, because it didn't matter anymore. The past was the past, and here and now there was a gorgeous woman in front of her, moving with and against her in ways that set every nerve on fire. 

The songs blended one into the other, and they just kept dancing, hands tracing the air around each other's bodies, and then when they got bolder they let their hands land on shoulders and arms, and then backs and hips, pulling closer and closer until there wasn't even the space of a breath between them. Their eyes locked, and their lids lowered. Lexa sucked in a breath as Clarke's lips met hers, and when she let it out it was somewhere between a hum and a moan. 

When the need for oxygen finally surpassed the need to keep kissing they pulled apart, but Lexa could feel Clarke's breath as she panted against her neck, her lips brushing the skin just behind her ear. "Do you want to get out of here?" Clarke asked, her voice husky with desire. 

Lexa froze. Her body was screaming, 'Oh hell yes!' and her mind was shouting back, 'That's not who we are! That's not what we do!' and her heart was somewhere in between because she'd known Clarke for, when all was said in done, little more than an hour, maybe two if she'd really lost track of time, but she'd enjoyed every single second of it – even the awkward ones. And getting out of here didn't necessarily mean they were going to _do_ anything they weren't already doing. Maybe Clarke was hungry and wanted to get something to eat. 

Her cheeks burned as the inevitable joke Anya would have made if she'd suggested that out loud echoed in her mind. If Anya was here, what would she say? 

It wasn't really a question, though. Lexa already knew. Anya had already as much as said it. She needed to move on from Costia, and even if this ended up being a one night stand, at least for tonight she wouldn't be lonely. 

But would she be more lonely tomorrow, having lusted and lost? 

"Or we can stay," Clarke said, her nose brushing Lexa's cheek. "We can just keep dancing." She leaned into Lexa, slow dancing to a fast song, and for reasons Lexa didn't understand and couldn't explain, that tipped the balance. 

"I should tell my friend I'm leaving," she said. 

Clarke looked up at her, her lips curving into a smile. "Yeah, me too." 

"Should we meet up back here or...?"

Clarke snorted. "And risk losing each other again? No way. We'll find your friend, then we'll find mine, and then we'll go." Her lips brushed against Lexa's and she laced their fingers together, then tugged her toward the edge of the dancing mob. 

"I don't even know where to start looking," Lexa admitted, leaning in close so Clarke could hear her. 

"What does she look like?" Clarke asked, but after several attempts to give her even a basic description, and Clarke just frowning and shaking her head and saying, 'Sorry, I didn't catch that,' Lexa gave up. She just held Clarke's hand tighter and began to make her way around the periphery, nearly tripping over several couples who were too wrapped up in each other to notice they were standing in the middle of the closest thing the venue had to a walkway. 

"Wait!" Clarke said, lifting the hand that was laced through Lexa's and pointing. "That's Raven!"

Lexa followed her finger and almost choked. Because tangled up with a girl in a red tank top and dark ponytail was Anya. "Maybe we should just text them," she suggested, knowing Anya wouldn't appreciate the interruption. 

Clarke looked at her, her forehead furrowing. "It'll only take a second. I need to let Raven know she'll need to get a Lyft home." 

"Pretty sure she's already got a ride... if she wants one," Lexa said. 

Clarke looked at her, her mouth tipping down in a frown. "I'm not going to just leave her at the mercy of a stranger," she said. 

"That's not a stranger," Lexa told her. "That's my friend Anya."

Clarke blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Yup." She grinned. "Don't worry, she'll take good care of your friend. She'll even make her breakfast in the morning. She's obsessed with waffles." 

Clarke laughed. "Sounds like my kind of—" She stopped herself, and it was impossible to tell in the flashing lights if she was blushing, but Lexa suspected she might be from the way she looked away. "Sorry. That's rude." 

Lexa shrugged. "I'm not offended," she said. She lifted their joined hands to her lips and pressed them to Clarke's knuckles. "I make a mean omelet. Just FYI."

Clarke looked at her, her lower lip slipping from between her teeth. "Good to know," she said.

* * *

They'd just about made it to the exit when Clarke heard Lexa's name, somehow cutting through the noise, although they were far enough away from all the speakers now that it was slightly less deafening. They both turned and Clarke felt Lexa stiffen. Clarke not no time to react before Lexa was engulfed in the arms of a woman she thought she'd seen wandering around while they were still setting up. 

"It's been too long!" the woman said. "How _are_ you?"

"I'm good. Just heading out, actually," Lexa said. 

"So soon?" the woman asked, and Clarke couldn't tell if her disappointment was real or feigned. 

"We want to get home and get everything unpacked," Lexa said, "and we'd rather not be doing it at 3 am." She shrugged, pasting on a smile. 

"Oh!" The woman looked at Clarke like she was seeing her for the first time, even though Clarke had been holding Lexa's hand the entire time. "Right! You were one of the vendors, weren't you?" She looked back at Lexa. "I didn't see you during setup..."

"My friend helped with that," Clarke said. "Lexa was busy with a... work thing. We met up later." She stepped closer, so she was pressed right up against Lexa's side. "But we really do need to get home. The dog can only hold it for so long." 

"Oh," the woman said again. "Of course. Well I won't keep you. Have a safe trip home! Happy Pride!" 

"Happy Pride," Clarke echoed, grateful when she disappeared but bracing herself for Lexa to blow up at her because what the hell had that been? She could already feel Lexa shaking, pent-up anger ready to burst out of her, and she stared to pull away, to get out of the blast radius, when Lexa let out a guffaw.

"Her face!" Lexa said, when she'd managed to subdue her giggles. "Did you see her face? Oh my god, that was _perfect_!"

"Who _was_ that?" Clarke asked. 

"My ex," Lexa said. She shook her head, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "So we have a dog, huh?"

"It seemed like a good excuse," Clarke said with a self-conscious shrug. 

"I love it," Lexa said, slipping her arms around Clarke and pulling her in, brushing her lips against Clarke's ear. "What else do we have?"

Clarke grinned, pushing herself up on her toes to claim a proper kiss. "I'll tell you all about it on the way home."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Pride, everyone! 🏳🌈
> 
> Also, just a note that I will be taking a hiatus for the month of July for Camp NaNo. See you all again in August!


End file.
